The blog of the radio announcer for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the Midwest League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Walkoff Wednesday (1997 Season)

It’s Walkoff Wednesday on Rattler Radio.

We continue our timeskip out of order this week with a look at the 1997 season.

The Timber Rattlers of 1997 followed up the ’96 squad with another playoff appearance, but this team was did not have an abundance of walkoff victories, until the last ten days of the regular season.

Also, we have a rare occurrence. Catcher Scott Steinmann had a walkoff hit against Rockford on May 30, scored a walkoff run against Rockford on August 31, and allowed a walkoff hit at Rockford on July 16.

Keep in mind that this may not be a complete list. The person (Ed.: AHEM) who went through the microfilm of The Post-Crescent boxscores at Appleton Public Library forgot to get ALL of the details.

If need be, I’ll go back and get these at some point. If you were at these games – or happen to be former Rattlers radio announcer Tim McCord, drop a line in the comments to help. HEEELLLLPPPPP!!!

TIMBER RATTLERS WALKOFFS (6):

DATE: May 11 OPPONENT: Kane County Cougars BATTER: Mike Burrows PITCHER: Kevin Zaleski SCORE BEFORE WALKOFF: Kane County 6, Wisconsin 5 in the bottom of the 9th GAME WINNING PLAY: Mike Burrows with a 2-out, 2-run home run! FINAL SCORE: Wisconsin 7, Kane County 6 NOTE: The Timber Rattlers trailed 6-1 in this game.

DATE: May 30 (Game 1 of doubleheader) OPPONENT: Rockford Cubbies BATTER: Scott Steinmann PITCHER: Trevor Schaeffer SCORE BEFORE WALKOFF: Tied 4-4 in bottom of the 8th GAME WINNING PLAY: RBI single by Steinmann FINAL SCORE: Wisconsin 5, Rockford 4 (8) NOTE: The first game of the doubleheader went one extra inning. The Cubbies scored twice in the top of the eighth to take a 4-2 lead. Then, the Rattlers scored three in the bottom of the eighth to win.

DATE: August 20 OPPONENT: South Bend Silver Hawks BATTER: Carlos Maldonado PITCHER: Pete Harvell SCORE BEFORE WALKOFF: Tied 5-5 in the bottom of the 9th GAME WINNING PLAY: Carlos Maldonado’s RBI single drove in Jose Castro with the winning run. FINAL SCORE: Wisconsin 6, South Bend 5 NOTE: Pete Harvell was a member of the Duluth-Superior Dukes in 1996 and 1998. I was a radio announcer for that Northern League franchise in both of those seasons.

DATE: August 27 OPPONENT: Lansing Lugnuts BATTER: Adonis Harrison PITCHER: Brandon Baird SCORE BEFORE WALKOFF: Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 9th GAME WINNING PLAY: Adonis Harrison’s RBI single with the bases loaded drove in Jose Castro. FINAL SCORE: Wisconsin 3, Lansing 2 NOTE: It is noted in the game story that John Wollner, the President of Appleton Professional Baseball, announced before the game that he would step down at the end of the season.

DATE: August 31 OPPONENT: Rockford Cubbies BATTER: Fernando Espino PITCHER: Trevor Schaeffer SCORE BEFORE WALKOFF: Tied 6-6 in the bottom of the 9th GAME WINNING PLAY: Fernando Espino grounded to short and Scott Steinmann scored from third when the throw home was a little up the first base line. FINAL SCORE: Wisconsin 7, Rockford 6 NOTES: That was the third time Schaeffer was on the mound for Rockford when the Rattlers won on a walkoff. The story notes that Mike Marchiano was hit in the head with a pitch in the first inning. Steinmann entered the game – the last of the regular season – for Marchiano and proceeded to play every position (except pitcher). The Rattlers led 5-2 heading to the top of the ninth inning, but Rockford scored four runs in their last at bat to take a 6-5 lead.

OPPONENT WALKOFFS (8):

DATE: May 4 OPPONENT: Clinton LumberKings STADIUM: Riverview Stadium BATTER: Brian McClure PITCHER: Javier Gutierrez SCORE BEFORE WALKOFF: Tied 4-4 in the bottom of the 14th GAME WINNING PLAY: Brian McClure’s RBI single scores Rodney Lindsay. FINAL SCORE: Clinton 5, Wisconsin 4 (14) NOTE: The Rattlers scored a run in the top of the 13th for a 4-3 lead. But, Clinton tied the game with a run in the bottom of the 13th and won the game on McClure’s single.

DATE: May 5 OPPONENT: Clinton LumberKings STADIUM: Riverview Stadium BATTER: Adam Cross PITCHER: Albert Derenches SCORE BEFORE WALKOFF: Tied 5-5 in the bottom of the 9th GAME WINNING PLAY: Adam Cross drives in the winning run with a bases loaded single. FINAL SCORE: Clinton 6, Wisconsin 5 NOTE: Rattlers were up 5-3 heading to the bottom of the ninth. Brian McClure tied the game with a 2-run single and scored the winning run on the single by Cross.

DATE: June 5 OPPONENT: Kane County Cougars STADIUM: Elfstrom Stadium BATTER: Larry Glozier PITCHER: Albert Derenches SCORE BEFORE WALKOFF: Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 10th GAME WINNING PLAY: Larry Glozier’s RBI single. FINAL SCORE: Kane County 4, Wisconsin 3 (10) NOTE: Kane County tied the game in the ninth on a two-out, two-run single by Jeff Venghaus.

DATE: June 25 OPPONENT: Michigan Battle Cats STADIUM: C. O. Brown Stadium BATTER: Gary LoCurto PITCHER: Brian Fitzgerald SCORE BEFORE WALKOFF: Tied 5-5 in the bottom of the 11th GAME WINNING PLAY: Gary LoCurto‘s RBI single scored Rontiez Johnson. FINAL SCORE: Michigan 6, Wisconsin 5 (11) NOTE: Michigan scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game 4-4. The Rattlers scored a run in the top of the eleventh for a 5-4 lead, but Michigan scored two runs in the bottom of the eleventh for the 6-5 win.

DATE: July 7 OPPONENT: Rockford Cubbies STADIUM: Marinelli Field BATTER: Julio Zuleta PITCHER: Jeromy Palki SCORE BEFORE WALKOFF: Tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 9th GAME WINNING PLAY: Two-out RBI single by Zuelta FINAL SCORE: Burlington 7, Wisconsin 6 (10) NOTE: The Timber Rattlers were up 2-0 in this game. But, the Cubs scored twice in the bottom of the eighth. Then, Zuleta drove in the winning run in the ninth.

DATE: July 16 OPPONENT: Burlington Bees STADIUM: Community Field BATTER: Kevin Baderdeen PITCHER: Scott Steinmann SCORE BEFORE WALKOFF: Tied 6-6 in the bottom of the 10th GAME WINNING PLAY: Two-out RBI single by Baderdeen FINAL SCORE: Burlington 7, Wisconsin 6 (10) NOTE: Steinmann had to come into this game…for some reason. He got the first two outs in the bottom of the tenth. But, he issued a walk and a wild pitch to set up Baderdeen’s game winning single.

DATE: August 8 OPPONENT: Beloit Snappers STADIUM: Pohlman Field BATTER: Jamie Lopiccolo PITCHER: Allan Westfall SCORE BEFORE WALKOFF: Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 10th GAME WINNING PLAY: Lopiccolo hit a 2-out RBI single to drive in Josh Klimek. FINAL SCORE: Beloit 4, Wisconsin 3 (10) NOTE: The Rattlers scored twice in the top of the ninth to tie the game 3-3.

DATE: August 10 OPPONENT: Beloit Snappers STADIUM: Pohlman Field BATTER: Jamie Lopiccolo PITCHER: Russ Koehler SCORE BEFORE WALKOFF: Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the 11th GAME WINNING PLAY: Lopiccolo homered on the first pitch of the bottom of the 11th. FINAL SCORE: Beloit 4, Wisconsin 3 (11) NOTE: That’s two walkoff hits in three days for Lopiccolo.

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